About ERS

Impact

ERS state and district work cover almost half of the nation including many of the largest urban systems.

This map shows locations of ERS district and state partnerships

ERS has three tiers of engagement: Partnerships, DIY Tools and Research, and our Workshops. Impact includes:

Partnerships with districts and states

5% -10% of district budgets identified for savings or reallocation from Strategic Resource Map projects. This translates into between $30M and $70+ million. After a resource map, 70% of ERS partners in the past three years have renewed the engagement to focus deeply in a specific area.

Increased equity and support for principal autonomy. In Cleveland, for example, we helped design and implement a student-based budgeting model where dollars are allocated based on student enrollment and need. School leaders control 71% of their school budgets, vs. 2% previously, and have significantly more flexibility in how they use their resources.

New "smart" schedules. In Oakland, for example, our analysis revealed in 2015 that half of the district’s high schools had schedules that prevented a typical student from taking the courses needed to graduate on time. We supported OUSD in changing the master schedule so that every student in Oakland today can access the courses required for graduation.

Key data to advocate for crucial support. In Baltimore, for example, our work was instrumental in making the case in 2017 for a city and state deal that infused $180 million of funding over three years to offset the district’s significant budget gap and enable the district to make strategic investments.

DIY Tools and Research

Research Briefs to build understanding. Our applied research efforts result in publications that impact for the field with more than 10,000 copies downloaded every year.

Influencing the National conversation. We publish regularly in national outlets such as Education Week, Kappan, Educational Leadership and School Administrator.

ERS Accounts support district work. Hundreds of ERS account users return repeatedly to use our online tools such as Budget Hold'em or our Professional Learning tool. For example, in Marysville, Michigan, the superintendent used Resource Check, our web-based tool that allows groups to rate district practice across transformational strategies and analyzes responses to show areas for improvement to publish his strategic plan.

Workshops, Webinars and Events

Annual summits for district teams in School Design and Budgeting. Our 2017 School Design Summit hosted 50 people representing 6 cross-functional district teams to identify actions to scale strategic school design for every school in the district.

Districts leaders work with us to redesign compensation. In Tennessee, for example, we held workshops for 32 districts to help redesign their teacher compensation systems to incorporate teacher performance. Now, 83% of these districts offer differentiated roles and pay for their teachers.

Districts leaders work with us to redesign school support. In Philadelphia, after our two-day budget partner retreat focused on the link between strategy and budgeting, the budget office updated their school budgeting tool to emphasize the connection between spending and academic achievement.